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Japanese working on dementia care products

SoftBank Mobile hopes to develop its robot Pepper to act as a conversation partner for those suffering from dementia. It is set to retail for 198,000 yen on the consumer market in February.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Tokyo

"PEPPER, dear, when is the next time you'll visit?" "Look over here!" In a third-floor lounge at Nishi-Koigakubo Ninjin Home, a special elderly nursing home in western Tokyo, elderly dementia patients recently spent time with Pepper, a humanoid robot with artificial intelligence